Tura Satana, who died on Friday 4 February, was one of B-cinema’s most iconic women, both in legend and in image. Of Japanese, Native American and other heritages, she had an amazing figure and a sharp mind, but, like many women, didn’t have a straight path to her destiny. Gang-raped at 9 years old, she learned karate and other martial arts in order to defend herself. Then, legend has it, she wreaked revenge on the men who had gotten away with raping her. It took fifteen years, but she finally found them all, beating them to a pulp before telling them who she was.

Most famous for her leading role in Russ Meyer‘s trashy iconic ‘Faster, Pussycat! Kill Kill’, Tura had an amazing life, too colorful and varied for this post, but certainly worth reading more about here.

RIP Tura